6 Steps to a More Optimized Supply Chain

April 14, 2016

Optimization is one of the most important aspects if your business is going to stay ahead of the competition. No matter what your product is, you want to maximize your efficiency and costs so you can get it to market faster and at the lowest possible cost without compromising on quality.

If your supply chain could use some shaping up, consider these six steps toward supply chain optimization.

Improve your relationships with retailers

You may be producing the product, but retailers are the ones interfacing with customers and getting units in their hands. They’ll also have useful data that you can use to keep your production optimized. Boosting the nature of your retailer collaboration can provide you with some valuable insight.

Adopt sustainable practices

Also known as circular economy, sustainability in supply chain operations can go a long way in improving efficiency. By definition, sustainable practices mean that your business is taking big steps to reduce its carbon footprint and paying attention to raw materials so that very little waste is created. It also forces you to be more conscious of what you are using and what you’re spending money on

Use technology to your advantage

From logistics software to resource tracking to automated processes, investing in up-to-date technology can pay off quite well when it comes to optimizing your supply chain.

Make inventory management a priority

Knowing the status of your stock for both raw materials and final products can help with both meeting request and keeping storage costs down. Setting up automated updates for inventory can save a lot of hours of labour and allows your employees to use their time in a more productive manner.

Know what an efficient supply chain looks like

The old Peter Drucker axiom — if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it — comes into play with supply chain optimization because you need to know what you’re aiming for. You’ll want to establish benchmarks for key performance indicators (or KPIs) to essentially give you some target.

Review and analyze often

It’s always important to try to do better. By creating a system for analyzing current performance and improvement (and using it), you’ll understand how your company is moving forward. It’s also important to keep in mind that your sector’s prevailing winds will shift and new technology will become available, and that both of these things mean you’ve got to assess your own work.

Well-made wooden pallets help optimization!

As one of North America’s top manufacturers of wooden pallets, wooden crates, and recycled pallets, Herwood Pallets understands both the need for supply chain optimization and how our pallets fit into your company’s optimization formula. Let’s get in touch to know how we can play a part in making your supply chain more efficient.